Can you fly this plane, and land it? Surely you can’t be serious. I am serious… and don’t call me Shirley.

Well, the tension seems to be mounting. This is the point in a movie where the music starts to get quicker, more dramatic. We feel like we are getting close to some sort of climax. Something is going to happen! WE’RE ON THE EDGE OF OUR SEATS, READY FOR THE ACTION TO OCCUR!!!!

Ok, so where’s this action?

There has been some optimism lately, that a bill may come out of Congress sometime this year, which may include conditions that can be labeled “a public option”. But honestly, I am not expecting much.

Congress has already demonstrated its ability to NON-ACT. That is, to appear to do something without really doing much of anything. Their process is so grandiose, so long and tedious, that when they finally do anything, it is touted as a huge accomplishment. I find it akin to a toddler’s first time on the “big bowl”: a grand fanfare of applause and celebration for squeezing out a raisin-sized turd.

A “public option” that only provides coverage to those without, really doesn’t help me. It really doesn’t help most of the “middle class”. Because we HAVE insurance already. The problem is, IT SUCKS. So if this bill comes out as watered down as I anticipate, the very poor may get some aid; but once again the middle is left out in the cold. Obviously this is intentional. It drives the middle class down, and dissuades the poor from attempting to elevate, lest they lose their income qualified assistance.

The current political congregation has demonstrated it will not come to the aid of the majority of US citizens regarding healthcare, credit cards, mortgages, consumer protections, etc. It will take our tax money; it will take our young people to fight its wars; but that’s about all it wants from us until Election Day. I am no longer willing to accept this. Are you?

Allow me to build an analogy. I feel we are in a holding pattern right now. We’re all on a plane, circling the airport. We can’t wait to touch down, so we can grab our bags and get moving, off the plane and out to the terminal. If you’ve been on a plane, you know this feeling. You can’t get up to go to the restroom, you can’t use your electronic devices, you really can’t do anything except look out the window and see if the ground is coming closer. But as soon as it does, you are ready to unbuckle and go!

Unfortunately, our landing has been delayed until 2010. And that’s just a stop-over, until 2012, when we really reach our final destination.

We boarded this flight when we elected Obama. He’s the Captain; we’re the passengers. Unfortunately, his crew is making us feel like we’re the baggage. Baggage that has been mishandled and damaged; or simply lost altogether.

Is in-flight service going to improve? We’ve certainly been pushing the little button over our heads. But it doesn’t matter, because no one seems to care that the light is on.

So what can we do? We can’t open the door and parachute out, and we can’t storm the cockpit; it’s definitely secured. Heck, we can’t really even unbuckle our seat belt, lest we risk prosecution for breaking “the rules”. And of course, we don’t want anyone to start shooting so we go down in flames.

But don’t worry, there is something we can do NOW. Start your research, and identify another airline.

What?? Am I losing you? You hate to fly? You hate analogies?? No problem, I’ll spell it out.

Clearly we have 3 yrs to go with Obama, and in that time, anything can happen. He can prove to be the best ever, Or he can prove to be more of the same, but with better packaging and marketing. It’s just too early to tell.

But we can start identifying the politicians that must be ousted. There are plenty of them. We don’t need cheaters, liars, sellouts, or obstructionists who work to keep our nation on its knees. Some of us already know who the “bad eggs” are; some only know of their local cronies, and some don’t know anything. So, THIS INFORMATION MUST BE SHARED. The public must have a clear, honest picture of who really are the foxes in our hen house; the enemies of public progress, and the forestallers of our nation’s recovery.

Ok, we can share this information while still buckled in our seats. What else can we do?

We must identify honest, trustworthy citizens to take their place. Someone has to do the job, and it’s a dirty one right now. Who will step up? Who will take that aisle seat and agree to open the emergency door when the situation demands it? I’m NOT talking about the people who take the aisle seat because they just want extra legroom for themselves. NO; we want the citizens who will help everyone out the door and follow the last one out.

So we must work together, with our neighbors, our community groups, etc., to identify “GOOD” PEOPLE. “Salt of the Earth” people. Those you’d trust to watch your kids on the weekend. Those you respect for their high ethics; their open minded perspective; their INTEGRITY.

Maybe you know someone like this. Or maybe you don’t. There’s not a lot of genuinely good people out there anymore that don’t have some personal agenda. But that’s ok, because at first we only need to identify 535 of them nationwide. So it IS possible. We can find these people, endorse them by telling others, and build support for them in the localities they would represent. We can do this using what few tools we have: word of mouth and the Internet. Both of which are very economical and effective.

The Internet has finally reached a level of saturation in America that is comparable to television. So its effectiveness as the primary medium for election campaigning is viable. Since the internet is essentially only as expensive as the cost of web hosting, this medium eliminates the primary expense in campaigning. The barriers to campaigning for public office can be brought down like the Berlin Wall. Fund raising no longer must generate millions of dollars to even be considered for candidacy. We can develop our own election process, back here in Coach, and completely disregard what’s beyond the curtain separating us from First Class.

But such easy access could bring out just about anyone as a candidate. Birthers? Nazis? (real Nazis; not Obama-style, I-drew-a-moustache-on-you-so-now-you’re-a-Nazi) Teabaggers? Oily Taintz and her ilk?

Obviously, anyone can set up a site tomorrow and run for office. And they are free in this country to do so. But for any sort of effectiveness, a central hub must be created, that will aggregate and moderate the flow of information. This hub must prove itself to be a reliable and trustworthy source of info that we can use for the benefit of our nation.

THIS IS WHERE I COME IN.

I have an effective plan to create the tool which can do this. The tool which will allow you to tell others, and others to tell you, about candidates and incumbents. This tool will have one purpose: to enable rational, patriotic Americans to retake control of their government. To restore the “of the people, by the people, and for the people” that is currently MIA in DC.

Why would I do this? Well, let’s just say I love flying. But I want to feel secure that when I board, I will reach my destination and my bags will be on the carousel waiting for me. I don’t want to heist your bag, I don’t want to hi-jack the plane, and I don’t want anyone else to either. It’s not that difficult to make everyone happy when everyone has similar, rational expectations: board, travel comfortably, depart.

Why should you participate? Well, we all need to fly sometimes. It’s really an efficient process. Have you ever seen how many planes are in the air at midday? Every day? It’s impressive. And even if you never fly, you certainly don’t want one crashing into your house and burning it down with your family inside.

Why will this work? Because as I said, people are ready to act. We are ready to pop that belt and grab the bag from the overhead bin. We just need the signal that it’s free to move about the cabin. That’s what my proposed tool will provide.

So when is the “unbuckle light” coming on? I’m working on this right now. So stay tuned. We CAN do what is needed to be done. The action required by each of us is small, yet the benefits will be great once our efforts are combined. In the meantime, start the cross-aisle chatter. Ask the person sitting next to you who’s worthy of putting into office. Just long enough to get things right again.

We’re never going to get where we want to be, unless we are mentally prepared to expend the same effort as if we were going to walk there. But if we can agree to work together for the right reasons….I believe we can fly!

Tj

(yes, i admit that was cheezy. if you have experience with creating complex websites, and would like to help, contact me at ofbyandfor @ gmx.com)

born to a blue collar family, the only one to put himself through college in an attempt to elevate from his family's caste. (i made it one level up and i'm still in debt for it)
i despise elitists, zealots, hypocrites, and liars.
i have experienced that people like to make things grey, distorted. but the truth is, 90% of things are black and white, right or wrong. we know it, we just don't want to admit it, because most of the time, wrong is fun. but when your fun comes at the expense of the rights of others, it is too far.
ask me and i will tell you straight every time.

To add to your analogy, the public option may be like our shoes which we must take off before being allowed to get on the plane.

I think Obama made a big mistake by bringing Rahm on as his COS, he is an old school DLCer who could care less about the people and regular Dems and is rooted in the status quo and conservative/corporate ideals.

It is the Senate though where most darts should be thrown. If it was left up solely to the House and Obama, we would have a fantastic health care reform bill.

The Senate Dems are responsible for all the problems. Some are great champions of real health care reform, others however are self-serving pawns of corporate America and would rather benefit themselves than help millions of Americans.

Ultimately, I do hope that some kind of public option, even the opt out one, is passed by the Senate because in reconciliation, they could adopt a robust public option that would only need 51 votes from the Senate.

The House needs to stand strong in insisting on a public option or holding off on approving reconciliation.

You’re absolutely right that the public option would not initially help the majority of Americans but once it’s in place and proves it’s worthiness…and that it won’t put the greedy insurance companies out of business…it will be easier to expand it to eventually all Americans.

As for your proposal and goals, as I’ve said, I think it’s a brilliant idea and I’m happy to help as I can.